vDos not responding

[mrc2048]

Hi Jos, 

I have a problem when I try to print on just one of the several PC's running vDos.  I am running foxpro and a couple seconds after the program issues a print command the mouse cursor turns into a blue circle and the vdos window title  adds the words "vDos not responding" as the pc essentially freezes.  Not only does vdos not respond, nothing responds to the mouse and I have to hit <Ctrl><Alt><Del> to call up the task manager and end the vDos task which then restores the mouse functionality.  I check the directory and the #LPT1.txt and .asc files are there so the program is successfully generating the output but there seems to be a problem in passing  it off to windows.  Normally a windows window comes up letting me direct to whatever printer I want but that doesn't happen here.    I have confirmed that there is nothing different in the way this pc is configured for vDos but only this PC exhibits this behavior. 

I am at a loss.  Any ideas? 

Thanks

[Jos]

What version of vDos is used at that PC?

The printer driver was once directly addressed by the main vDos code.
The driver (specific HP ones only?) can however send messages back the moment the program itself is waiting for the driver to return control.

A deadlock situation is so created since both are waiting for the other to respond.
Therefor vDos switched to printing by a separate thread, so the main code keeps running independently.

Jos

[mrc2048]

I am using  


06/13/2019 11:35 AM 1,143,408 vDos.exe

[Jos]

The printing thread was introduced with version 2020.03.01.
Updating to the latest version would fix the problem.

Jos

[mrc2048]

So I put the latest version of vdos.exe in and it did make a difference but its still not working.

Now instead of freezing the entire desktop it just freezes vdos after a slightly longer amount of time.

I am printing by mapping lpt3 to a shared network hp printer and then doing set print to lpt3 in foxpro.  

I tried mapping lpt3 to a kyocera printer but vdos still froze the same way.

All the other machines work fine - only this one exhibits this problem

Thanks for your help.

[Jos]

That’s strange because the print routine now runs in a separate thread.
So that shouldn’t affect the main program at all.

What when you start (a copy of) vDos.exe directly w/o a shortcut, config.txt and autoexec.txt.
Then at the command prompt copy some text file to LPT3 and select the printer in the Windows Print Dialog?

Jos

[mrc2048]

i tried that and it still hiung so i tried prinmting from just a regular cmd window and it hung too so looks like its not vdos.

I am trying to reload the hp device driver

any other suggestions?

[Jos]

Run Windows Troubleshooter, or search the Internet for this mishap...

Jos

[mrc2048]

The problem seems to be the Kyocera printer driver - when it is set to the default vDos's creates the #LPT1 files but hangs when it should show the printer selection window. Can you explain why vDos is using the default print driver before I have selected a printer?

Thanks

[Jos]

As you found out, it isn’t a vDos problem.
vDos only selects/addresses the default print driver when the SEL: "" option is used in the LPTx/COMx directive of config.txt.

So the Kyocera printer set as default messes up the Windows Printer Dialog at retrieving the printer settings?

Jos

[mrc2048]

i think i have it figured out. i removed the sel:"" from config and that allowed me to select the printer. if the driver for either the kyocera or hp printer was loaded locally i.e. they use an ip address of the printer, print jobs hang but if i delete that driver and set up the printer as shared on the server and use that to install the printer on the local machine it works except for the kyocera which now says failed to initialize. the exception is if i use an old version of vdos (8/9/16 12:16pm) which prints to default printer without an entry in config then it can print to local drivers including the kyocera. so it seems it does have something to do with vDos.

it is challenging for me to keep it all straight but I am sure you could figure it out easily if you were here.

thanks for your help - much appreciated.

[Jos]

I have my doubts:

• The problem is only with one specific PC.
• Don’t recall this being reported by someone else.
• Windows CMD has the same problem.
• There’s no vDos (8/9/16 12:16pm), perhaps a pre-release of 2016.10.01?
• Version 2023.05.01 would show the more appropriate "Could not connect to printer".

Jos